Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul: Real Stories by Real Teens

by Mark Victor Hansen, Stephanie H. Meyer, John Meyer

How to Figure Out the Drama--Teen to Teen
Every day you are faced with choices about friends, school, work, family obligations, and the future. It isn't always easy to know which direction to take, and if you do make a mistake, then what? To help you out, Chicken Soup for the Soul got together with Teen Ink magazine to bring you compelling, real-life stories from teenagers going through many of these issues. Teen Ink magazine is written by and for teenagers about everything from getting ready for the prom to losing someone you love.
In Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul: Real Stories by Real Teens, you will find honesty and insight about the everyday situations you face and see how other teens tackled them. Challenges, loss, constant change--how are you expected to handle it all? Like you, the teens in these stories often laugh, sometimes cry, and at times make mistakes. So share with them their innermost fears and thoughts as they cope with loss, watch their parents go through divorce, fall in love, and conquer their fears.

Genres: Nonfiction, Short Stories, Inspirational

321 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2007

About the author

Mark Victor Hansen is an American inspirational and motivational speaker, trainer and author. He is best known as the founder and co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series.


Mark Victor Hansen was born to Danish immigrants, Una and Paul Hansen. He grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1970 with a B.A. in speech communications.

Along with business partner, Jack Canfield , Hansen is best known for creating what Time magazine called “the publishing phenomenon of the decade”. Chicken Soup for the Soul books are one of the most successful publishing franchises in the world today, with more than 500 million books sold internationally and more than 100 licensed products. The name “Chicken Soup” was chosen because of the use of chicken soup as a home remedy for the sick. The first Chicken Soup book, published by Health Communications, Inc., sold more than 2 million copies. There are now over 500 million copies in print and in 54 languages worldwide.

In 2005 he co-wrote, along with Robert Allen, the book "Cracking the Millionaire Code" in which he highlights several self-made millionaires such as Bob Circosta, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Alexander Graham Bell, Oprah Winfrey, and others, using them as examples of how to build wealth.

Reviews

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I accidentilly thought this was the preteen book so now i cant get out. i dont know what this book is about.

[Gowtham Suresh · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's real good never thought these happen in real life.

[Shrilaxmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think most teenagers will love this book because it is about challenges we face and situations we go through all the time. It is helpful to know how other people deal with their problems.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've avoided the Chicken Soup series because I know enough to know what it is: inspirational fluff that appeals to the lowest common denominator. Nevertheless, this ended up on my shelf in the days when I still thought I wanted to be an English teacher.

The collection is hit-or-miss but better than I thought it would be. The book is mostly short stories with a few poems thrown in; apparently the series has a 1200 word submission limit, so it was easy to zip through this book. I know the stories are all written by teens, but I often felt like I was reading a compilation of English assignments: a lot of bland introductions and "summarizing" endings, tons of unnecessary imagery, and an overtly moralizing tone. I also found it extremely weird that almost every story features an epigraph...I suspect it's something to do with the editors and not the authors. Also, the comic strips interspersed throughout the stories are so devoid of humour that I'm not sure why the editors bothered.

At times the adolescent naiveté is awkward—like the infatuated teens who write about how their love is going to last forever or the amount of times God is cited as a reason for everything—at other times, it actually works well and lends powerful raw emotion to the stories. For a series that's supposed to be "uplifting" the Teen Soul edition is overwhelmingly sad. Many stories deal with death, self-harm, eating disorders, bullying, and discrimination.

I will probably never read this book cover-to-cover again, but it's surprisingly deserving of a spot on bookshelf. Some of these teens are talented writers and there are plenty of stories that are worth revisiting: "A Little Memorial," "Our Masterpiece," "Stop! LEGO Thief!", "Apple Orchard," "Room 103," "Sweetness," "The First," "Don Juan, Goldfish," "Six O'Clock Now," "Weight of the Matter," "Sassy," "A Beard," "Car Talk," "Wedding Picture," "Gram," "Visiting Hours Are Over," "Polly Want a Cracker."

[Belle Meade School]

363.8

[Alma Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read! Loved it! I’m not a teen anymore, but it definitely brought back memories of same situations. The feeling, the thoughts! Very genuine!

[Veronica Hninn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a teen myself, there are so many stories I can relate to. It's absolutely brilliant! Sure, the writings aren't grand or anthing. I mean, they were written by teenagers and that is why i love it so much. All those voices of the teens and many of them I can relate to. And yes, it's Chicken Soup for the Soul so of course a lot of the stories in this book make me shed tears....a lot of tears. Mirror Image by Meghan Heckman is a personal favourite of mine. I'ven been abandoned by people whom I called bestfriends before. I'm a bit anti-social and people do not tolerate me that much. I have this one friend though and she really tries to understand me and tolerates me just like Meghan's friend in the story. I hope Meghan's friend lasts and mine does too.

I was not a good listener except the voices of the people I care about. But after listening to all those voices that created this wonderful book, I feel a lot stronger than ever. There are people like me! There are those who went through the same struggles like I did. There are teenagers going through a whole lot tougher stuff. If they can get a grip and walk on, then I can too. It's tough being a teen, but I am not alone.

[Fsegundo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You can't shake hands with a clenched fist". This Quote was said by the famous Mahatma Gandhi. This book can help you understand the hard and difficult things about being a teenager. The reasons why I liked this book was because it made me look at and imagine all the different point of views of all different teenagers. You can learn all there is to know about a teenage life, like friendship and love. I also learned that you should never try to make friends with enemies only friends. I enjoyed this book and think others should read it because you can use it to be successful in your teenage years and life.

[Briana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Chicken Soup For The Teen Soul: Real-Life Stories By Real Teens
Author: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hanson, Stephanie H. Meyer, and John
Meyer
Book Type: Teen Drama

Summary:
This was an awesome book. I love how I can relate to mostly all the stories. Te detail made me think that I was really their. It is just like the book "When She Was Good". My favorite story was Emily, The Soccer Star. It is about a little girl with cancer and a teenage friend(I don't want to give away to much). It made me start to think about life. I need to live my life to the fullest and help whoever I can.

[Sky *daughter of Hermes* · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chicken soup for teens souls taught me that everybody goes through the same thing. Everybody may be different but we all go through the same thing. Boy chrushes, puberty, and the world in general. One of the poems that really caught my eye was If Roses Can Be . . This inspired me to write my own poem and to show my school that everyone needs to be accepted. Acceptence . . a joyus word that shines the light in the world. I hope that you understand what I'm saying. Cause' if you don't, you need to read the book yourself.

[Anna]

This is pretty good so far. It's short stories about teen problems. It's kind of depressing because the people either have had someone die and it's about how depressed they are, or about how they want to die themselves and how depressed they are. Of course there's the occasional friendship story where the best friends have a fight, or someone's bullying them.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is filled with very inspiring stories that are very good if you read a few when you are going through a hard time. they remind you that there are many people out there that have it a lot worse than you do.
warning: this book may become boring if you try to read it all at once, i suggest reading only a couple stories at a time.

[Megan N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book because I could realate to a whole lot of the stories kids have sent in. There were alot about friends and problems with some people and struggles and I could relate to them so I really liked the book. I was out of town and there wasnt much else to do so I just sat and read and read, and it was pretty easy to finish within 2 days of just reading a story once and a while.

[Chevelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was agood way to look at life and should be read by a lot of teens and preteens. I also learned that I wasn't the only one with problems. It made me feel more normal and open. This book made me heart melt and it deserves some recognition.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul: Real Stories
HCI, its logo and and marks are trademarks of of Health Communication, Inc.
Jack Canfield
$6.95 Pages.288
ISBN-13: 9780757306822
ISBN-10: 0757306829

(To Be Continued...)

[Alya · Rating 1 out of 5]

ughhh! i couldnt finish it. someone might find this book useful or fun but i strongly DISLIKE two paged stories :L sorry but anyone who likes reading short stories will absoloutly(not sure bout the spellin) LOVE this book (if they are a teen)

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book for teens

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book about the life of the teenagers and it is all about their hardship and happiness! I learn that this book has almost every answer to every promblem.

[Emma]

I'm going to start reading it on my 13th birthday. When I'm a teen! wooo!!!

[Jervaun]

I have heard good things about this book.

[Faduma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've read any other chicken soup for the
"blank" soul, then you have to read this one.
that is, if you're a teen.

[Mariam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading some stories every now and then.. =]

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

has a lot of life stories. some were interesting some were boring.

[Sarah Sloc · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is fair i'm not going to say it's awesome

[amara · Rating 3 out of 5]

its sad happy its fun

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

on page41

[Samantha James · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book reminds me of some what my self in aLMOST EVERY STORY

[amara · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steph]

i havent read one of these chicken soup books in a while..so far, its good.